


Blossoming Lotus: Solace to Enrapturement

by Painted_Scars27



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Bisexuality, Dark Side of Dimensions Spoiler, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gay Male Character, M/M, Minor Character(s), Other, Polyamory, Post-Dark Side Of Dimensions, Post-Movie(s), Sarcasm, banter a lot of fucking banter, established relationship Kaiba Seto/Mutou Yuugi, eventual polyamory, pre-flareship, pre-flareshiping, rivalship, starts off rivalshipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-26 22:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12068613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Painted_Scars27/pseuds/Painted_Scars27
Summary: ~~THIS IS A PREQUEL~~Beware of //SPOILERS// from DSODAfter Atem saves humanity from impending evil and destruction, and his brief reunion with Yugi Mutou, Seto Kaiba embarks on a journey like none ever attempted (successfully) before to break the barriers of time and space. It wasn’t fair that Yugi got to speak to the Pharaoh but HE did not?! He had made the sacrifice play to make that all possible, hadn’t he?? It should have been him face to face with the King of Games himself. The only plausible solution was to force his hand. Seto Kaiba was going to attempt time travel and now, he had the right technology to make it happen. With that Cube and his brain, he knew he was going to be able to finally get another duel with the Pharaoh, along with another chance to finally beat the bastard.





	Blossoming Lotus: Solace to Enrapturement

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Blossoming Lotus, Resurrection](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10190681) by [Painted_Scars27](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Painted_Scars27/pseuds/Painted_Scars27). 



“Please come back, Seto—” the young voice shouted over the receiver. “Seto! Big Brother—”

The boy sounded worried. Distressed even. But that wasn’t something he was going to be able to worry about at the moment. This had to work. There was no going back and no alternative options. He needed this to be successful. Felt nearly as if his life depended on it. After all the years he had spent laboring, wasting his hours, his blood, his sweat, and possibly a few frustrated tears, over a project of this capacity, he didn’t just need this to work. He wanted it. Every fiber in his being tingled.

The pod began to glow an orange hue. It was coming from his tech connecting with whatever witchcraft was beheld in that Cube. He didn’t care what it was made of, or how it was created, but if he could harness the energy it created, that was more important.

“I’ll be back before you know it, Mokuba. While I am gone, you are in charge.” Seto cut the line before the younger boy could protest again. He was going to return. He knew that they hadn’t test the prototype. If his determination and will power held firm, and they would, he was going to be back just as he said. Soon. And it would hardly have been like he even left.

He typed into the pod’s computer system and suddenly the pod shifted, placing him into a downward position. Preparing to launch, Seto ensured his seatbelt and safety precautions were secure. He wasn’t worried, but at least he could give his baby brother some equanimity knowing that he tried, somehow.

The computer system rattled off a countdown and they were off. Launching downwards at an ungodly speed. Seto’s vision could hardly hold. The light was too bright, the pod shook as the speed of the unit hurdled forward. When up became down and down became up, when the unit wasn’t moving because of anything but momentum anymore, when Seto couldn’t see—let alone feel—anything anymore, he knew that it was working. He didn’t exactly know what ‘ _it_ ’ was, but that in and of itself made his heart pound into his ears.

There was a prominent bump. Another. Suddenly the entire pod was exposed by a strange light, more natural—almost like the Sun—and more enveloping than the luminous orange radiating from the Cube behind him.

The bumps didn’t stop; they increased until there was a large crash and a surge of what appeared to be sand all around him. It flew around him. Like a sandstorm, which knowing the location it probably could have been; if he had been in his conscious mind, he would have known for a fact. But Seto blinked trying to understand his surroundings. He had been _here_ before. It felt so familiar. Not quite like a dream, and not quite like reality.

Seto didn’t like the uncertain. No, Seto Kaiba hated the uncertain. But despite this, he was here. Or there. Whatever it was, he had accomplished part of his goal. Time-travel. Or dimension travel. He wasn’t really sold on the details yet, but it got him to where he was and that was what counted at the moment.

“Great; I can mark that off my bucket list,” he mused, climbing out of the hunk of tech that had been his transportation and he pressed a button on his sleeve that subsequently enveloped him—alongside his duel tech—in a glowing blue. He had made modifications to allow for this travel, since he was in the land of the Afterlife, The Memory World they had once visited. It mirrored the land of the living, at least how the world had been in the time of pharaohs and pyramids.

There was life in this… world. Even though it looked like a wispy, fog-filled environment from a far, like that of a dream. This was Ancient Egypt. And this was where he was going to find Atem. Back where he had come from; back to his old life—the one he was supposed to live out in the first place.

Seto set out towards the kingdom. The palace was hard to miss; regardless of the massive town that held the vast majority of the Pharaoh’s subjects surrounding the palace in the immediate sense. As he walked on, he wasn’t sure if he was a solid body or the ghost of himself—just a presence—in a world connected to his own but not paralleled. He knew that he looked like an outsider. He had the most modern tech. Hell, he had tech. Something this generation wouldn’t even fathom. They were still into witchcraft and magic. Was it really witchcraft? He didn’t care.

Seto shook his head, trying not to pay attention to anything else but getting into the kingdom. Even if he had to sneak in. If for some reason he got to the palace without speaking to anyone in this town, he seriously doubted that Atem’s guards were going to just let him waltz into the throne room and demand a duel from their King. Or if Atem was going to remember him.

“But he did remember Yugi, so he must have some recollection of his time in the modern world,” Seto thought to himself.

He carried on. It was going to take him a while to reach his destination and in the meantime come up with a clever plan in order to come face to face with his goal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Night had fallen before Seto breached the palace walls. There were guards everywhere. He had been stopped by a few inquisitive bystanders in the town as he approached the kingdom. People of this time were curious. Not unlike the modern era. But even Seto knew his limitations and speaking to people, the general public, was not his strong suit.

A few residents had become worried that he was a danger and the guard was called upon. By now he was on the run, hiding from everyone as he tried to get into the palace.

Which was quite a feat, since he was glowing a neon blue from head to toe.

“Just a hitch,” he told himself, maneuvering himself around the outside perimeter of the palace walls. “Boy does Atem have an extensive following.”  In this life and the next, he could have added.

The guard was not just a few soldiers. There were probably thousands, if not more, men that followed the young Pharaoh. Getting past them was not going to be easy, by any means.

Seto crouched in place between some shrubbery, lining the palace wall directly south. He was going in blind. He didn’t know the landscape of this at all, save for some ancient scrolls that showed the layout of the land that he had tried researching before his journey. It helped some, but it was not going to be enough to help him get inside undetected.

Though hearing something behind him, caused him to turn his attention, coming face to sole with a pair of shoes. Following the line upward he came eye to eye with a familiar individual. Long dark hair beneath a headdress. Piercing eyes, they appeared lilac to him. He hadn’t the time to react.

“Seto Kaiba, how on earth… Well, I guess that is the real question,” the man muttered in a fairly even voice. Seto slowly stood, almost as tall as the man in front of him. He wasn’t normally used to being the shorter person.

“You’re Yugi’s Magician. I forgot you were supposedly real,” Seto muttered.

The man turned to the brunette, at first with surprise, but then a smile played at his lips. Still very calmly.

“The Pharaoh mentioned you had a sharp tongue. Follow me. You must be looking for a way inside. Staying out here will do you no good,” the man turned on his heel and began to lead, but stopped short once getting to the stairwell to their left. “You may call me Mahaad, by the way. Though, if you must, the Dark Magician will suffice.”

Seto wasn’t sure why he was taken aback, but for a split second he paused before following. “How did you even find me?”

“The blue glow was a tipoff,” Mahaad stated, gesturing to his gear. “But mostly the disturbance in the air. Whatever it is that you are wearing is giving off an energy source that I have never felt before. The guards may not be able to sense it, but I can.”

Seto had known that the suit was going to radiate some kind of energy, but he wasn’t sure why this magician character could feel the energy. Mahaad. He was terrible at calling most people by their names. Yugi was probably one of the only people, besides Mokuba and Roland that he ever referred to without some sort of nickname or jest.

He followed Mahaad through a long corridor that wound around towards what must have been the throne room. He had to admit that this was a lot easier than trying to get past the guards. Even if he wasn’t sure if he was being taken in, as opposed to walking in freely. No matter. He would greet the Pharaoh as he intended to: with a challenge. He hoped the meeting was going to go well.

Mahaad stopped just shy of some drapery that covered the entrance to the throne room and turned to Seto.

“Wait here, please, while I announce you to his Majesty,” the man didn’t wait for a reply from Seto before disappearing behind the drapes and far into the throne room.

Seto flexed his shoulders. He could see servants moving about, and other dignitaries going about their business in nearby rooms and corridors. Boy, was he out of place?

Not a moment too soon, Mahaad reappeared.

“His Majesty is no longer busy. He awaits his guest on the throne. Enter as you wish,” he announced, making no effort to escort him any further as he spoke.

Seto barely acknowledged the man to give a thank you, but a short nod as he walked beyond the veil was as polite as he was going to get.

Taking in the sight as he strode through, Seto steeled his focus to the man perched atop the golden throne directly in front of him. This was not the Atem he knew well. His likeness was different, clearly. He was no longer the image of the Yugi Seto knew in his dimension. This was a dark-skinned, crimson-eyed King. Despite all the differences, the familiarity was uncanny. The brave, strong-willed man sat proud on his throne as he ruled over the land he cared and fought for with a love and strength of the Gods.

Seto’s gaze pierced the amused, crimson ones staring at him. And although he wanted to greet him in his usual way, the guards standing on either side of their king caused him to think otherwise.

He stopped just shy a few feet of the throne, and gave an acquiescing bow. “Pharaoh.”

He noted the way the guards reacted not only to the gesture, but also to their king’s reaction.

Atem moved. In fact, he stood which immediately caused his guardsmen to stand at attention. Said King took a few steady steps, down the stairs from his perch, towards the brunette.

“I had a feeling you would breach the dimensions, Kaiba. It’s good to see you,” the deep voice of the Pharaoh rumbled through Seto’s ears, like wildfire; it was warm and unruly, but comforting.  It was the most familiar thing about the place he had visited. The one constant.

“You were expecting me?”

“One day, yes. I am a god you know,” Atem just smiled at the curt inquiry. Seto Kaiba had changed over the years, but he was still the rough young man the Pharaoh had met years back.

“Good, then you know I want a duel.”

“While that also isn’t a surprise, dueling in this world is not like dueling in your dimension,” Atem responded.

“What if I have this?” Seto grasped the Cube in his hand and revealed it to the King standing just a few feet from him.

Atem’s crimson eyes studied it for a moment, and then he closed the space between them in a way that made Seto take even a ghost of a step back.

“This is dangerous, you’re not going to use it to duel me,” he almost sounded angry.

“You’re right; _I’m_ not—” Seto responded matter-of-factly.

Atem eyed him, turning the cube in his hand, catching on, “You want me to duel you with it, while you use… I assume that is a newly improved duel disc?”

Seto nodded, proud of his invention.

“I have dimension dueled before, the rules are a little different, but I can bring you up to speed. No doubt you’re still the King of Games, with a title to defend.”

Atem gazed at the cube and then at the tall brunette opposing him, before tossing it back, “Let’s eat before we get to the games. You had a long journey and this dimension will drain your energy quickly if you don’t.”

Seto caught the geometric object, setting his jaw at first to interject his complaint against the idea, but his stomach growling told him otherwise. He also knew that in this world, opposing the Pharaoh’s request would be a high slight that wouldn’t get him anywhere closer to his purpose.

“Fine, but I am not leaving here until we duel.”

Atem smiled, shaking his head. “Do you think I have forgotten you, Kaiba? This way,” he turned down the hallway and headed back through the original corridor from whence he came, into a banquet hall with an ornate spread of delicacies.

Seto Kaiba didn’t like following people. He also didn’t like people telling him what to do. He wasn’t a fan of another person’s agenda either. But he did not travel to another dimension, to leave without achieving his goal. He sat as directed by a server, to one of Atem’s flanks—he wasn’t sure what it meant, but it appeared he was being treated as the guest of honor, or the equivalent.

Atem sat at the head of the table, observing his guest quietly. He knew Seto lived a lavished life that he had worked towards all by himself, very different than being born into the lifestyle. Despite his pretentious attitude towards a great deal of things, he really was a hard worker. He had a lot to show for it. Overbearing, overthinking, overworking. But he didn’t really blame Seto for those qualities. They made him both strong, and weak at the same time, and that imbalance was something he knew well enough.

It was mostly silent between them as they began to eat. Seto wasn’t generally one for small talk. He wasn’t even great with it when Mokuba was around and wanted to eat dinner with him. Let alone dining with Atem.

Atem broke the silence first, which shouldn’t have surprised the CEO, but it still did.

“How have you been, Kaiba?”

Seto broke apart a piece of bread from a bowl in front of them. Some of the food on the table was familiar, while some of it was completely foreign—as he was the foreigner in this case.

“This must have been how the Pharaoh felt as he began to remember his lost memories, back in our dimension. The language barrier alone must have been strange,” he thought to himself. Gazing up at the inquiry, as Atem’s voice reached his ears.

Seto was unsure of how to answer the question, at first. Atem watched the usually confident Seto shift in his position at the table. He was used to them sitting on the floor for certain activities. Even though, many of them had taken a modern approach instead of a traditional one—and they didn’t all sit on the floor anymore, at any given time.

Atem picked up a goblet and drank. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. We can talk about something else, besides you; though from experience I thought that that was your favorite subject.”

Seto’s icy gaze found its way back to the crimson orbs of the Pharaoh.

It was a jab, even if the tone had an air of tease in it.

Finally, the taller man sighed.

“Mostly I’ve just been busy, which won’t surprise you. So, I don’t know what you want to hear,” Seto murmured, also sipping some of the wine offered at the dining table.

“You have always worked incredibly hard, I agree. That is not surprising,” Atem acknowledged, smiling at his guest. “I can see the fruits of your labor, you showcased some of them when you arrived. Your work has always been impressive, Kaiba. I just mean,” The monarch paused, as if he were physically twirling around the words in his mouth instead of speaking them.

“Spit it out, Pharaoh. We don’t have all day.”

Atem chuckled.

“We do not? I thought you said you weren’t leaving until I agreed to duel you?”

“That’s why this little interlude won’t go on forever.” Seto replied; it may have sounded harsh to the untrained ear. Untrained in the language of Seto Kaiba, that is, and by now Atem was nearly an expert.

“Interlude,” Atem feigned a misunderstanding, “Oh, you mean talking about how you’ve been? Fine by me, if you don’t wish to speak about yourself, who should we then talk about? Yugi, maybe?”

Seto eyed the shorter, darker man now. Eyes narrowing. What did he know? There was an underlying tone in his inquisition. Or maybe Seto was just assuming things, by now.

“You want to talk about the pipsqueak?” His voice was flat. Intentionally so, however.

Atem’s eyes danced. Sparkled even, shining with the mirage of fire across the room. He leaned forward, closer to Seto.

“I would never give up the chance to talk about Yugi. And, frankly, neither do you.”

Seto felt hot. Maybe it was the environment, or the fire, or even his attire. Whatever it was, was causing him to burn up. His face felt hot. Well, not his entire face. Mostly just his ears. And if his ears were hot, then he was in trouble.

Seto Kaiba had a spectacular poker face, when he wanted to, and an excellent scowl when he didn’t. But how the body functions, is a funny thing. And sometimes the body—his body—deceived him.

He let out an annoyingly long sigh.

“You got me. Fine, what do you want to know?”

Atem looked, well, triumphant, enough. Seto shook his head, bracing himself for the conversation to come. He wasn’t sure if either of them were ready for it.

“How is Yugi doing? He looked well last I saw him, but he also looked… sad. If it’s anything like I feel inside, I know he must be hurting.”

“He’s been hurting, and yes, probably as much as you are.” Seto responded, knowingly, which piqued the King’s interest.

Atem gazed at him, his face was a mixture of emotions. On the one hand, he was terribly sad that Yugi was not doing well. On the other, he knew how much it hurt having to say goodbye to Yugi and everyone else he had become so fond of from the time Yugi managed to reassemble the Millennium Puzzle to their Ceremonial Duel. So much had happened, and yet there was so little time; it ended before it could even truly begin.

“You and he have become close.” It was a statement; of this he was confident.

Seto wouldn’t deny it. He wouldn’t dare, not now.

The brunette nodded.

“You could say that,” was all he offered though.

Atem smiled.

“How long?”

This question puzzled the guest. Seto raised a particularly well-shaped brow at the Pharaoh, arms folded across his chest.

“How long for what?”

“Have you and he been together?”

Seto blinked. It wasn’t just his ears this time that turned a flaming red.

“How did you—” Seto sighed, “You know what, it doesn’t even matter.” He knew that he hadn’t been ready for this conversation, but here it was. “Just a few months really… after you returned, and disappeared again.”

Atem leaned forward on the table; this time he was the one listening, and eagerly.

“You have liked him for a long time; it’s no mistake—the two of you finding solace in one another.”

“Solace?”

Atem gave him a pointed look. “You broke the laws of science and nature to come across dimensions to duel me; solace.”

Seto nodded. He couldn’t argue. Again.

“Goddamn you.”

“I cannot damn myself.”

Seto glared, though it didn’t hold the intensity of his younger days.

“What else?” Seto asked. If they could get off this conversation and onto something else, he would be more than grateful.

“What else? You dodged one of my questions—if you recall, the one about yourself, only to answer the one about Yugi, which in fact also has to do with you. I told you, we would be talking about you, Kaiba,” Atem just smiled. It was gentle and it made Seto feel things he wasn’t ready to admit.

**Author's Note:**

> SO, I finally got it in my head that I wanted to link the ideas in my head for post what happens in DSOD and my story of Blossoming Lotus, Resurrection. And this prequel is the result of that. Thanks to the inspirations of some other amazingly talented writers and their stories here on this site. 
> 
> *Seto/Yugi (hints of Seto/Atem)*
> 
> Without further ado-
> 
> This is just after Seto and Yugi have started dating. Boom. And of course the shenanigans that ensue once Seto breaks the barrier of dimensions and time. Yugi will not physically come into this story for the first portion, possibly not until a couple chapters in (however he MAY be inserted in some flashbacks *hint hint*). And I have decided this will be a short chapter story. I just want to fill in the gaps and details for Blossoming Lotus, Resurrection.
> 
> I am also working on Chapter 6 of BL,R (I am shortening it to this because I'm tired of typing it out so many times lol) 
> 
> The two stories should flow. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think. I am trying to be as consistent with my own work as follows. Listen to me ramble even in the notes. SOrry 
> 
> Thanks everyone < 3  
> -Britt


End file.
